Darwin's Body Snatchers

Record ID: 123158
  • Title: Darwin's Body Snatchers
  • Date: 8th October 1991
  • Summary: SOME OF BRITAIN'S "GREAT MEN OF SCIENCE", WERE INVOLVED IN BODYSNATCHING AND GRAVE-ROBBING. THE SCIENTISTS WERE SO KEEN TO PROVE THAT AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES WERE A PRIMITIVE, BARBAROUS RACE. THEY SHOWED NO SCRUPLES ABOUT HOW THEIR SPECIMENS WERE OBTAINED. THIS INVESTIGATION SHOWS SACRED ABORIGINAL BURIAL SITES WERE DESECRATED, PATIENTS WERE SEIZED FROM HOSPITALS AS SOON AS THEY DIED, AND THERE IS EVEN EVIDENCE THAT A FEW COLLECTORS WERE PREPARED TO MURDER ABORIGINES TO OBTAIN THEIR SCIENTIFIC SPECIMENS. NOW TOP BRITISH MUSEUMS AND UNIVERSITIES FACE A DILEMMA - SHOULD THEY RETURN THOUSANDS OF PIECES OF SKELETAL REMAINS FROM ABORIGINES, OFTEN OBTAINED BY ILLEGAL AND UNETHICAL METHODS, OR SHOULD THEY RETAIN THEM FOR FURTHER SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION?
  • Description:EXPOSE FOR WITHOUT WALLS OF THE EXTRAORDINARY TRADE IN ABORIGINAL ANCESTORS ENCOURAGED BY MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES.
  • Broadcaster:Channel 4
  • Collection: Channel 4
  • Genre:Documentary and Factual
  • Producer:LAUREL PRODUCTIONS LTD
  • Programme Episode:Episode 1
  • Transmission Date:08/10/1991
  • Rights:On Request
  • Decade: 1990s
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